Farmers 'hanged' to draw people's attention to suicides

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) With a view to draw the attention of thousands of Delhiites towards farmers’ suicides, Jai Kisan Andolan of Swaraj India on Thursday displayed farmers’ dummies hanging from various flyovers in Delhi and Noida.

With a message, “Three lakh farmers committed suicide in India, Let’s stop this now”, Jai Kisan Andolan is trying to solicit people’s support for the upcoming November 20 “Kisan Mukti Sansad” in the national capital, in which thousands of farmers from across the India are likely to participate.

Swaraj India’s Delhi unit President, Anupam said: “Many well-known celebrities extended their support to farmers in a new social media campaign called ‘Indebted2Farmers’ that was initiated today (Thursday).

“Actors Kamal Haasan, Revathy Asha, Rohini and Swara Bhaskar, singer Rabbi Shergill, Oscar nominee Vetrimaran and music director Prakash Kumar were seen posing for pictures with a placard that said ‘Indebted2Farmers’ on social networking platforms including twitter and facebook,” he said.

“Indebted2Farmers is the second round of social media campaigns launched by Swaraj India’s President Yogendra Yadav and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a new formation of more than 184 farmers organisations demanding ‘freedom from debt’ and ‘remunerative prices’ as legal entitlements to all farmers,” Anupam said.

“While #KisanKiLoot was centered around capturing pictures of individual farmers and the low prices realised by them, the #Indebted2Farmers campaign highlights the debt burden of farmers and the debt of gratitude society has towards farmers,” he added.